And So It Starts
by scormalfoys
Summary: Rose, Scorpius, and Alice are entering their sixth year at Hogwarts. As if it weren't hard enough balancing their own lives, Hogwarts appears to be losing it's magic. Rose, Scorpius, and Alice aren't entirely sure how to manage their lives with the impending threat of Hogwart's end, but they do know they might be the only ones able to fix it.
1. September 1st, 2022

A/N: This is a story I started a couple weeks ago on Ao3. I decided to start uploading it here as well. If you'd like to read it on Ao3 instead, simply go on that website and search 'And So It Starts'. Enjoy! xx

* * *

Smoke curled through the air of the tiny compartment before being sucked out through the window. Rose watched it spin and waver away, wispy and white against the blue sky.

"You nearly finished?" Alice asked, annoyance lacing her voice.

Scorpius nodded, "Sure, I guess, why?"

"It's freezing in here, how do you two not realize that?" Alice responded quickly, glancing between Rose and Scorpius, both of whom were currently seated upon the bench across from her.

Rose shrugged, her eyes still following the smoke, "I've got my jumper and these jeans are rather thick. You're wearing a skirt and a blouse, Alice."

Scorpius plucked his black jumper, "I'm dressed for the weather as well."

Alice rolled her eyes, "I thought it would be warmer. Yesterday was 28 degrees and rather balmy."

"That's Tinworth, Alice. This is Scotland," Rose replied simply.

"Well, I know that, of course. I just thought maybe it'd be a bit brighter considering yesterday was still August."

Scorpius stubbed out his cigarette against the windowsill and stood to shove the little window closed.

"Thank you," Alice said gratefully.

Scorpius hummed in response and pulled out a deck of Exploding Snap cards, "Anyone game?"

Rose shook her head, gesturing to her book, but Alice raised a hand, "I am."

"Okay, you first," he said, moving to sit beside Alice and splitting the cards between them.

Alice flipped up a card from her pile and onto the stack. Scorpius flipped one of his onto the stack. Rose watched as they sped up, slapping down cards over and over.

"Snap!" Alice exclaimed, slapping her hand down on top of the cards. She pulled the cards into her hands.

They continued placing cards until Alice, once again, called, "Snap!" and pressed her hand to the cards. The cards snapped under her hands and she jumped back as if burned, "Shit," she muttered, "I could've sworn that was two queens."

Scorpius smirked and Rose watched the game continue for a few before returning to her book, blocking out the intermittent snapping sounds.

Soon Alice jumped up from her seat and rushed to tug open the compartment door. The trolley lady stood outside, pushing her cart up to the door.

"Anything off the trolley?" she asked sweetly.

"Yes, licorice wands, please," Alice said.

The woman handed the licorice wands over to Alice in exchange for a sickle. She looked at Rose and Scorpius, "Anything for you two?"

Rose nodded, "A cauldron cake, please."

"And two pumpkin pasties," Scorpius called out, his back turned.

Rose handed over the money to the woman, mouthing an apology for Scorpius' lack of manners. As the woman moved away, Rose tugged the compartment door shut. She tossed the pumpkin pasties to Scorpius, "You were being a prat again, by the way."

Scorpius shrugged indifferently, "Thanks for the pasties."

"Mm-hm," Rose hummed disapprovingly, "You could have said that to the trolley woman."

Scorpius turned to look at Rose, his eyebrows raised, "She didn't pay for my food, Rosie."

Rose gave up when Scorpius turned back to Alice and his game.

* * *

"Damn," Alice muttered, "these robes are much scratchier than I remember."

Scorpius reached over to rub the fabric between his fingers, "Where'd you get these? They feel like shit."

Alice batted his arm away, "I got them from Second-Hand Robes. I'll charm them softer later."

"Oh my God," Scorpius said, the beginning of a laugh on his lips, "You did it again, didn't you?"

"Did what?" Alice asked defensively.

"Merlin, Alice, you do this every summer," Scorpius sighed, "You went school-shopping just yesterday, yeah?"

"It's not like I didn't manage to get everything," Alice replied, tucking her shirt into her school skirt, "Hey, Rose, tie or no tie?"

"Alice, you've got to wear a tie, it's the rules," Rose said, "If you get detention during the first week of school, you probably wouldn't be able to make the party."

"Fine, fine, fine," Alice said, looping the gold and red tie around her neck.

Rose turned to Scorpius and smiled before moving over towards him, "One of these days," she said, "You're going to have to learn how to tie a tie."

"I think I could get by with having you do it everyday," Scorpius replied with a smirk, looking down at Rose's hands knotting the fabric.

"I have a class at six in the morning this year, how will you get your tie done when I'm not in the common room?" Rose asked, tightening the knot up to his neck.

"Wow, what a coincidence, Rose," he said, "I just remembered I have to switch my potions class to the six o'clock block."

"That is dedication to a certain kind of laziness," Rose said, smoothing down his collar and stepping away.

"Lazy? By waking up at six? Hardly," Scorpius quipped before shrugging on his smooth robes, "Mm, they're so nice and new. Feel them, Alice."

"Shut it, you prick," Alice mumbled.

The train came to a screeching halt and Rose tumbled into Scorpius while Alice was thrown back onto the bench.

"Sorry," Rose mumbled, letting go of Scorpius.

He looked at her for a moment and Rose vaguely worried he might do something. However, he let go of her at the sound of Alice's loud 'ouch!'.

"Not a problem," he replied easily, smoothing his robes.

"Right," Rose cleared her throat, "All set, then?"

Alice nodded, still rubbing her head, and helped Scorpius pull their trunks down from the rack. Rose accepted her trunk from Scorpius, blocking out the warmth that spread through her hand when it brushed his, and pushed through the students into the corridor. Slowly, the crowd thinned and the three stepped off the train, breathing in night air.

"There's an empty carriage over there," Scorpius pointed out and they moved towards it swiftly. Scorpius hopped on first, reaching down a hand to help Rose up.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, staring at the ground as she hefted herself onto the carriage.

Alice rolled her eyes at the pair and climbed up behind Rose, sitting alone across from them.

"Sorry," came a voice from the ground, "Mind if I join you? The rest are full."

"Of course," Rose said.

Albus Potter jumped up onto the carriage and sat beside Alice. She crossed her arms and scooted away from him, glaring at Rose.

"Good holiday?" Albus asked, looking between Scorpius and Alice.

Alice continued to glare him. Scorpius, however, spoke up, "Yeah, it was nice. And yours?"

"It was brilliant, thanks," Albus smiled, "Had a fantastic Quidditch match yesterday with the family. Didn't we, Rose?"

Rose shook her head, grinning at him, "You can say that because your team won. Mine did not."

"Ah, Rose," Scorpius said, "You've gotta brush up on your skills, huh? It's probably because you haven't had your other chaser to practice with, I bet." He grinned at her blindingly and Rose wished he didn't look so terribly intoxicating.

Rose jabbed him with her elbow, "As if. I do great without you," Rose defended, "It's because I had Hugo on my team and he's rubbish at Quidditch."

"Keep telling yourself that, Rosie," Scorpius said.

Albus turned to face Alice, "And how was your holiday, Alice?"

"Perfectly fine, Potter," she said shortly.

"What? No asking how mine was? Terribly rude of you."

"I just heard how yours was when Scorpius asked. I felt no need to hear it again," Alice replied, staring out at the trees.

"Then I guess it evens out considering I had no intention of asking what you did on your holiday," Albus replied smoothly.

"Prick," Alice muttered.

"Ass," Albus muttered back.

Scorpius shook his head and whispered to Rose, "They're unbelievable."

Rose nodded, "And for a moment I thought they'd be civil," she said. She made the mistake of glancing over at Scorpius, who was still turned towards Rose, and couldn't help it when her eyes rested on his lips. Rose met his eyes quickly and looked away, pinching her arm.

She cleared her throat, "So, how are you feeling about the new season, Albus? Hufflepuff got any decent recruits?"

Albus tore his glaring eyes away from Alice to look at Rose with much kinder eyes and a smile, "Rose, if I told you that then how would we get the upper hand?"

Rose smiled back, a small laugh slipping out, "Hufflepuff has never had the upper hand at Quidditch."

Albus shrugged, unfazed, "Well, maybe we will this year."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow, "Is that foreshadowing?"

Albus smirked, "I guess you'll just have to wait and see."

The carriage drew up to the castle and they stumbled out, Rose reluctantly accepting Scorpius' help.

"Well," Albus said, "I'll see you lot around then, yeah? Hopefully not you, of course, Alice."

Alice sneered at him before angrily marching off with her trunk.

"Yeah," Rose said, "See you tomorrow, I think we've got a class together."

"Brilliant, see you then," Albus smiled once more before running off to join his friends.

Rose turned to Scorpius, "We'd best catch up to Alice then, yeah?"

Scorpius smiled and gestured in the direction Alice had gone, "I think that might be a bit difficult. She moves fast."

Rose turned around and, sure enough, she could no longer see Alice, "Well, we'll just see her there then, I suppose."

Scorpius nodded, "Yeah, let's get going."


	2. September 2nd, 2022

James stood up on a table on the Gryffindor common room with Fred and the room immediately hushed, "Welcome back," James bellowed, all smiles, "to our start-of-year party. You all know the drill, unless you're a first year in which case you'd best be going to bed," he paused to listen to the crowd laugh jubilantly, "Drinks are over there," he gestured towards a corner, "food is over there, all professionally nicked from the kitchens by my dear companion and me," he slung an arm around Fred's shoulders and they both raised their glasses, "So without further ado, my fellow students, here's to a new year full of Quidditch wins and decent marks." They raised clinked glasses and there was a commotion of other students knocking glasses and gulping down alcohol.

James grinned, surveying his party. He considered it his finest accomplishment at Hogwarts. He and Fred had, of course, been appalled as second years to find out there was no cool party to go to when school began. Knowing a few second years tossing together a party wouldn't go over well, they'd gone about it anonymously. They'd written unsigned invitations and simply waited for people to gather. Not to their surprise, people had indeed gathered. The two loved to take credit for it now. In their minds, who wouldn't want to be the youngest party-starters in Hogwarts history?

Rose rolled her eyes and curled into the corner of a plush sofa, her butterbeer cradled against her, "They're a couple of pricks," she mumbled.

Scorpius grinned from where he was sprawled out on a chair beside her, "Mm," he hummed lazily, "maybe but they sure know how to bring in good refreshments."

Alice had her legs kicked up over the back of Rose's sofa, her head dangling off the edge, "I second that," she said, attempting to drink her own butterbeer whilst upside-down.

Rose sighed and took the beer from Alice. She righted Alice and handed the beer back, hoping to avoid any alcohol-in-eye situations that upside-down drinking might impose.

Scorpius pulled out a cigarette, "You think they'd mind?" he asked.

Rose shook her head, "It's likely they're already too drunk to remember if you do."

Scorpius nodded his agreement and lit the cigarette, taking a long drag before perching it between his lips.

Albus came over then and situated himself between Rose and Alice, "Hello, my fellow Gryffindors," he fumbled.

Rose shoved his arm off her, "I'm in Ravenclaw, Albus, and you're in Hufflepuff."

"That does sound accurate," Albus relented and Rose noticed the half-empty bottle of firewhiskey in his hand.

"Oi," Scorpius called out gesturing for the firewhiskey bottle, "Pass that here, mate, don't keep it all for yourself."

Albus tossed it over and Rose froze for a moment, anticipating broken glass, but relaxed when Scorpius caught the bottle. "Now," Albus said, tugging Alice close by her shoulders, "I've come over to invite my dear friend here," Alice groaned and glared at Albus, "over for a game of Never Have I Ever and you two can come as well, if you'd like."

"You're not my dear friend, Albus," Alice said but it was half-hearted, "but I'd love to join the game. Come on then, you two, come have a little fun."

Scorpius stood and stretched, following Albus and Alice towards the semi-constructed circle in a corner of the room. Rose, reluctantly, followed as well. She didn't normally enjoy this type of thing. She preferred the quiet of Ravenclaw's common room and the soothing blues and whites that covered the room. Lately, however, looking at Scorpius was making her breath catch and she was willing to drink enough to forget about that for now.

She pushed between Alice and Scorpius and took a seat, finishing off her butterbeer and setting it behind her.

"Another?" someone asked and she accepted it gladly.

"Right," came a rather loud voice from in the circle. It was Ian Mackey, Rose noticed, a muggleborn boy in her own year, "so for those of you who don't know, the game goes as such; everyone starts with ten fingers up," he waited for everyone to put up ten fingers, "we go around in a circle and when it's your turn, you say something you've never done. If anyone else has done it, you put a finger down and take a shot. Now if you're lying, that shot glass is gonna glow blue and we'll all know. So don't lie." Rose watched a shot magically appear in front of her. She didn't have to think very hard to guess it would be refilled every time she downed it. "First person with all ten fingers down loses."

"I'll start," Ian said, "Never have I ever… Gone skinny-dipping. In the Black Lake."

Begrudgingly, Scorpius put a finger down and took a shot. Honestly, Ian hadn't expected anyone to put a finger down.

"When the hell'd you do that, Malfoy?" Ian asked, slightly surprised.

Scorpius shrugged, taking a drag of his cigarette, "Fifth year. I think after one of these parties."

Ian barked a laugh out, "That was only last year!"

Scorpius held up his hands in mock defense, "I know, I know. I may have let the liquor get the best of me."

"Alright, alright," Albus said, "I'm next. Never have I ever had sex outside of the dormitories."

Rose scoffed. She barely believed Albus had had sex at all. A few people took a drink including a girl in Rose's dorms named Felicity Clearwater.

"Anyone care to elaborate?" Albus suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

A boy from Gryffindor spoke up, "In the forbidden forest," he said, smirking.

"That's a load of shit," Scorpius called out.

"Swear it on my great-aunt's grave," the boy said. People watched his shot glass, predicting it to glow blue at what had to be a lie. It didn't glow. Someone whistled appreciatively and some girl muttered an astounded 'wow'.

"My turn!" Alice said excitedly, "Never have I ever gone streaking."

Rose glared at Alice, who smiled oh-so-innocently, and took a blushing shot.

Albus hooted with laughter, "How the hell did you end up doing that?"

"Oh, piss off, Albus," Rose quipped, "it was in third year because these assholes," Rose jabbed Scorpius and Alice with her elbows, "made me do it on a magically-binding dare. Honestly the worst game of 'truth or dare' I've ever played."

"Well, Rosie," Scorpius said, grinning, "It's your turn now."

"Never have I ever…," Rose thought for a moment. Of course, there were many things she hadn't done but right now she seemed at a loss. Until she remembered a way to get back at Alice. "walked in on my parents going at it."

To Rose's surprise, quite a few people took a shot. She didn't care so much about them, what she did care about was Alice's shot.

Alice groaned, "Merlin, Rose, you had to remind me? I'll never get that out of my mind."

"Your turn, Scor," Rose said happily, forgetting how it felt to look him in the eye. She ignored the fluttering in her stomach and quickly trained her eyes back on the floor.

"Never have I ever flashed someone," he said, putting out his cigarette against the neck of a bottle. Images of Scorpius like that flickered across Rose's mind. She pushed them out. They were imaginary anyway, she thought sadly.

Albus, to Rose's surprise, took a shot. Noticing Rose's surprised face, he relented, "Look, I may have been a bit tipsy and it may have been my drunken mind's idea of how to seduce someone. Just bum, I promise. It didn't work though."

Rose stifled laughter, "Oh, Albus, when will you learn?"

He shrugged good-naturedly and took another swig of butterbeer.

"Never have I ever…," piped up a boy, Rose wasn't sure what house he was from, "fantasized about my best mate."

Rose and Scorpius took a shot.


	3. August 31st, 2022

A/N: Pay attention to the date (in the chapter title). We've jumped back a bit with this chapter.

* * *

Scorpius leaned against the fence of his balcony, watching the wind rustle the moonlit trees. He held his cigarette between his lips as he pulled up the hood of his Quidditch sweatshirt. He couldn't help the way his mind drifted to Hogwarts. He wanted to go back, obviously, since who wouldn't want to go back? He was excited to see Alice, who had been away on a long holiday in some obscure country for a month. He wasn't sure how he felt about seeing Rose. Excited, yes, but there was a nervous tingle in his stomach, that he was really beginning to hate, whenever he thought of her now.

Scorpius knew it was getting out of hand the moment he started noticing how much he loved it when she scrunched up her nose. He knew he loved seeing her nose scrunch up because he was finding ways to weave nose-scrunch worthy sentences into conversations. And it was ridiculous.

He'd try and ask Alice if she could help him get rid of these feelings but he didn't think he could. Scorpius had a feeling that she would be the number one fan of his crush on Rose. Merlin, it sounded so childish to even think the word 'crush' but he wasn't sure what else to call it. If he admitted to himself that he was indeed in love with her then he'd never stop thinking about it. Scorpius really wanted to stop thinking about it. For many reasons.

The first being the most obvious: Rose was one of his best mates. If they got together and things went sour, he'd lose one of his best friends and he'd put his other, Alice, in quite an uncomfortable position. A part of him felt like it should be reason enough but he kept thinking about her freckles and suddenly it wasn't enough.

The second reason was a bit less obvious, especially to those who knew Rose. For a moment, he resented knowing Rose. If Scorpius didn't know her, he easily would have asked her out ages ago. But he did know Rose and he was extremely glad he did. The second reason was that Scorpius had watched Rose's past relationships and he had watched how she left them all.

It wasn't merciless. No, Rose wouldn't be able to do merciless. She would be vaguely upset but not enough to mess with her brain. It was probably some algorithm she had worked out. But algorithm or not, Scorpius had watched Rose walk away from perfectly decent relationships for one reason only. Rose was terrified of falling in love.

Now that, surely, had to be reason enough. How could he expect to be with a girl who would never permit herself to fall in love? But then Rose would fall asleep on his shoulder or he would smell her summery shampoo when she brushed against him and then he was gone all over again.

He wanted to kick himself. He settled for another cigarette.

A light knock on his door pulled him from his reverie, "It's Mum," called his mother's soft voice from behind the door.

"Come in," he said without turning around.

Scorpius heard the door click open and shut and heard his mum padding around his room.

"You should get some sleep," she said, her voice warm against the chilly night air, "Got to be up bright and early for the train tomorrow."

"I know," Scorpius automatically replied. He could hear her fussing with his sheets, most likely folding them down so he could easily crawl beneath them.

"I wish you wouldn't do that, you know," she said, no doubt referring to his cigarette, but she had always been bad at being stern with him so her words remained soft.

"I know," slipped off his tongue once again.

"Those things give muggles lung cancer," Astoria said.

"Emphasis on 'muggles'. I know the spells to counteract the damage, I'll be fine," he reassured her, not for the first time. He felt her come to stand beside him.

"You're so much like your father," Astoria said, smiling lightly, "Both of you can be so stubborn."

"I thought you were going to say it's because we both smoke," Scorpius replied, grinning.

"That too," Astoria rolled her eyes. She knew they had both started only to annoy Draco's parents and she did find it amusing when they visited, so she let the smoking slide. "Really, though," she began, "You should go to bed, alright? Big day tomorrow and it's rather cold out here."

"Hear you loud and clear," Scorpius said, stubbing out his cigarette on the railing and ignoring his mum's pointed glare, "To bed I go."

"Thank you and no more putting the cigarettes on the house," Astoria reprimanded, "The charms to get out burn-marks take a horrendous amount of time to work."

Scorpius hugged her quickly, "Goodnight, Mum."

"Goodnight," Astoria said, moving to the door, "I love you."

"Love you too," Scorpius mumbled before diving beneath his duvet and falling asleep, thoughts of Rose still tugging at his mind.


	4. September 3rd, 2022 - 1:28 AM

Scorpius stared at Rose, a suggestion hanging in his eyes that she didn't want to discover. He was charming, she thought, alarmingly so for such a standoffish person. Rose hated that he was charming. She hated that he was still staring at her. Time hung between them, loose and expendable. Somewhere outside of their loop, rain was beginning to knock politely against the window panes.

Rose cleared her throat but it was a mangled noise and the air still felt bent. She took a moment to compose every thought racing through her vaguely intoxicated head. Rose stood carefully, all her bones felt unusually fragile and she couldn't move her eyes away from Scorpius' lips. They were the kind of lips that caused trouble.

Without another word, Rose spun on her foot and stalked away from the circle that had trapped her voice. She left the Gryffindor common room, saying a quick goodbye to James that felt far away and not quite real.

She tore through the castle, entirely unsure of where she was going, skidding past paintings that clucked their tongues and glared at her. Rose kept running, her bare feet hitting damp grass as she swept out onto the grounds. The Black Lake swelled and retreated, daring her to come closer. Rose stopped, her breathing more laboured than usual, as she stared out at the lake. She felt frozen, unable to move, with no idea what to do next. She needed Scorpius out of her head.

She fumbled to pull her wand from her jean pocket, her hands shaky and numb. "Accio broomstick," Rose choked out. She waited for the familiar rush of air to hand her a broomstick but it didn't come.

Frustrated, she held her wand up again, "Accio broomstick." Nothing happened.

"Why are you looking for a broom?" Rose would know his voice from ten thousand miles away. This time, however, he sounded right behind her.

"I don't know," she said honestly, "It doesn't matter anyway, one isn't coming."

"Why'd you leave?" he asked and Rose turned to face him, his eyes still hinting at a proposition she didn't feel like grasping.

"It was time for me to leave," she shrugged.

Scorpius narrowed his eyes and Rose noticed how startlingly silver they were, shiny and shattered, "How did you even know I was thinking of you? What if I was thinking of Alice?"

Rose laughed quietly, "Then I'd be real intrigued since you've referred to Alice as your sister multiple times."

Scorpius shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Rose liked when he wore dark jeans. "Fine."

The silence seemed to hover more ominously now that Rose had confirmed that she had been Scorpius' fantasy. She sat down on the damp grass, ignoring how uncomfortable it felt through her jeans. Scorpius sat beside her, his spine a curving brushstroke against the darkened air.

"What was it about?" she asked, her voice a whisper that was swept into the wind.

"What was what about?" he questioned back, picking at an innocent blade of grass.

"Your fantasy," she said, and more quietly, "about me."

Scorpius turned his head to meet her eyes, an eyebrow raised in startled questioning, "I didn't think you'd want to know," his voice dragged across words.

Rose stared at her hands, clasped and pale in her lap, "I do."

"Will you tell me yours?" he asked curiously. She could hear the small smile in his question and she didn't dare look up to see it.

Rose nodded silently.

Scorpius leaned back into the grass, flicking his cigarette to the ground. Rose picked it up, stubbed it out, and put it in her pocket to throw away later. He was so careless sometimes, she thought, but a part of her liked it. Probably the part of her that felt like she could never afford carelessness.

He closed his eyes, as if imagining it now, "I like to think about you in the astronomy tower, when you're staring through a telescope and your lips are smiling. I want to kiss you when you look like that," he opened his eyes to find her staring at him. Scorpius stared back. "I want to kiss you all the time."

Rose let the silence drag on, wondering if he'd continue.

Eventually, closing his eyes once more, he did, "When we're on the Hogwarts Express and Alice is out visiting with other friends, when it's just us in the compartment, I think about what it would be like," he paused to glance at her once more, noticing the red hidden in her cheeks, and spoke even quieter, "What it would be like to lock the door and pull you into my lap. To kiss you until neither of us can breathe."

"Oh," Rose breathed. Scorpius smirked at the blush tinging her freckled cheeks.

"I like when you blush," he added and the red on her cheeks grew deeper. He watched her for a moment, a small nagging feeling in the back of his mind that maybe Rose didn't want anything to do with him. Scorpius brushed it away, repossessing his confident mindset, they'd been skirting around each other for years. "Your turn," he said.

Rose glanced at him and crossed her legs, staring out at the lake, the trees, the ground. Anywhere but his glittering smile and sharp eyes. She didn't usually feel so exposed. It felt like the air could blow straight through her and the thought made her inanely frustrated.

Rose took a deep breath, "In potions class," she said, focusing on the shadowy lake, "when you've got your sleeves all pushed up and your tie is loose and you keep running your hands through your hair. Merlin, you look so wonderful like that." The last part slipped out cautiously and Rose considered whether she regretted saying it or not. A quick glance at Scorpius' raised eyebrows and upturned lips told her she didn't regret it.

She continued, "Then you always end up taking your tie off and you make me retie it," she glared at him but it was half-hearted, "Sometimes I wish I could pull you in by the tie and kiss you. More than sometimes, really." Rose plucked a blade of grass up and fiddled with it, ordering the heat in her face to sod off.

"Why do you think I've never bothered to learn how to tie it?" he asked, the smirk still sat upon his face as he tilted his head towards the sky.

Rose shifted to lay beside him, watching his chest shift up and down with each breath until her breathing matched his. She stared up at the flickering stars above them, the night fell over itself and suddenly Rose's whole body was telling her that tonight was over, there was nothing more to happen tonight.

"You're not going to kiss me," Scorpius said easily, as though he were commenting on the weather, "Not yet."

Rose nodded even though it didn't seem to be a question. After all, he already knew the answer. The stars continued to blink above them, as though they too knew the night was ending.

Scorpius' pinky hooked around Roses and she smiled slightly. He had pushed the night ever so slightly longer and she felt oddly grateful.


End file.
